A Brother Bones adventure reminds me of nice chunk of chocolate: dark and moody in appearance, but in taste, exquisitely sweet. This has never been more the case than in Ron Fortier's latest offering, "City of Lost Souls": a series of interlocking episodes that spice up the Undead Avenger's already delicious legacy.
A large sum of the atmospheric flavor stems from the skull-faced crusader's stomping ground, Depression-era Cape Noire: the offbeat ingredients of which would give even the intemperate Gotham City a spirited run. Much the same can be said of Brother Bone's bizarre and divergent adversaries.
In the case of "City of Lost Souls", we have Doctor Satan, a juicy homage to the mysterious, movie-serial titan of terror. He's abetted by the Bela Lugosi-based, Synthetic Man manufacturer, Professor Bugosi and his henchman, the Rondo Hatton-inspired, Waldo Danzinger: stand-outs among Fortier's rogue's gallery for reasons that any seasoned, horror fan would know. They're complemented by Harry Beest, who possesses the same percipient verve as DC's Gorilla Grodd and so many of those legendary "Planet of the Apes" antagonists. And for a little, alluring scintillation, we're treated to the sexy, parasitic Sister Blood and the beautiful Alexis Wyld, who was once the apple of Beest's eye and now desires the Undead Avenger's head.
This eccentric blend delivers quality creeps with every page turn, with the participants being consistently classy and sophisticated in their rottenness: each molded in the tradition of those endearing villains we've met in good ol' chapter plays and B films.
Marvelous, brooding illustrations by Rob Davis bridge the exciting ensemble and accentuate its brimming weirdness; Michael Stribling delivers one helluva Satanic cover. As with all Airship 27 products, this is an outstanding package from front to back, from start to finish.
By the time I flipped to the final page and ruminated upon this entry's intriguing intricacies, I grew wracked by a bittersweet craving: fulfilled, yes, but hungry for another nibble. The best I can do is reread (re-taste) the well-worded layers, and of course, await the Radio Archives audio edition. In any event, I'm grateful to Fortier for allowing his supernatural protagonist to prevail. The appetizing "City of Lost Souls" has proven the ideal way to achieve that oh-so-essential goal.
"City of Lost Souls" is available for purchase in Kindle and paperback at ... https://www.amazon.com/dp/1946183369/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1521917491&sr=8-1&keywords=brother+bones%3A+city+of+lost+souls.
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